Accessing temporal trend of different meteorological parameters is essential for understanding the local climate changing pattern of a region. Quantitative estimates of the effect of climate change helps in understanding, planning, and management of water resources systems. In this study, monthly meteorological data were collected from 30 stations of north-east (NE) India for 1971–2010 and non-parametric Mann-Kendall (MK) test and Sen slope were employed for detection and quantification of significant temporal trends, respectively. An ESRI ArcGIS toolbar “ArcTrends” was used for the above mentioned tasks. The results obtained for rainfall were of mixed nature and both increasing and decreasing significant trends were found for different stations in different months. Most of the negative trends were found in the months of July–August (monsoon), whereas, more stations showed positive trends in April–May (pre-monsoon), and October–November (post-monsoon), indicating inter-seasonal shifting of rainfall without much change in the annual total. Number of rainy days was found to have positive trends in March–May (pre-monsoon) and negative trends in September–December. Except some positive trends during June–December in Manipur and Meghalaya, there were no significant trends in maximum temperature. In some stations, minimum temperature was found to have significant increasing trends throughout the year indicating a general rising trend in NE India. Some major towns like Guwahati, Imphal, Agartala and Kailashshahar showed significant positive trends in mean temperature, mostly during June–December. Mean relative humidity was, in general, found to be significantly increasing, especially during February–March. In some stations, wind speed was found to have significant negative trends throughout the year, with Agartala being the most affected.

The slag generated in the rotary furnaces is classified hazardous waste. In this regard, landfill disposal of lead smelting slag is not feasible since a few hundred tons are produced per year; leaching of heavy metals into ground water is of concern. The release of heavy metals into the environment has resulted in a number of environmental problems. The disposal of slag is becoming more expensive each year due to large land areas needed for its disposal. The best way to solve the disposal problem of waste materials is to decrease the quantity for disposal with utilization of waste materials in the industry. The toxicity of the waste is determined by leaching tests and depending on the characteristics of the waste the spent abrasive must be disposed of as solid or hazardous waste. The aim of this study is to investigate leaching characteristics of lead smelting slag according to leaching tests such as TCLP, and TS EN 12457-4 tests methods. In this study, mixed-level factorial design was applied to optimize process parameters for lead removal from lead smelting slag using natural (sepiolite, montmorillonite, illite and seashell) and waste material (red mud). The established model was then used as a predictor to achieve better understanding of the adsorption process and to obtain optimal settings of the experimental factors. The present study includes the safe disposal of lead smelting slag using natural and waste materials. Experimental results indicated that red mud and seashell can be used as environmentally friendly adsorbents that are capable of lead release from lead smelting slag.

One of the fundamental carotenoid compounds available in microalga Chlorella pyrenoidosa is lutein, which is a commercially valuable antioxidant compound. The extraction of lutein from C. pyrenoidosa was studied in detail under various operating conditions. Acid pretreatment was done using 10% HCl. To analyze the effectiveness of ultrasound based extraction, experiments were carried out in presence and absence of ultrasonication. The results showed increased lutein yields in presence of ultrasonication. Scanning electron micrographs of pretreated and ultrasonicated algae cells showed increased surface area due to formation of porous surface. There were no significant contrasts in antioxidant activity of lutein between the samples obtained from ultrasound and acid treatment. Furthermore, to optimize the operating parameters like concentration of HCl, ultrasound exposure time and microalga biomass concentration, response surface methodology (RSM) design was applied. From the experimental results the optimum values derived are incubation time 41.34 min, HCl concentration 15.63 % and biomass concentration 309.21 g/L for a yield of 3.5 mg of lutein per gram of algae. Hence, ultrasound extraction with acid treatment is the most efficient technique for the extraction of microalgal lutein.

The purpose of the study was to improve drinking water quality of conventional treatment processes by combining with UF-membrane systems. Performances of two membrane systems were evaluated in two different full-scale conventional water treatment plants in Istanbul. Low-pressure UF membranes were combined after settling and filtration units of Büyükçekmece and Emirli water treatment plants. Low-pressure UF systems were operated under vacuum and pressure conditions. The experimental results indicated that combining UF systems enhanced drinking water quality with respect to turbidity, TOC and UV254 removal. In all cases, vacuum-driven UF membranes provided higher treatment performance and low energy consumption comparing to pressure-driven system. Combination with UF membranes also reduced disinfection by-products.

In recent years children’s head hair is a biomarker frequently used for monitoring environmental exposure to heavy metals. Blood, plasma, urine and other tissues analysis were the most popular approaches to evaluate the concentrations of trace elements in human body. However, hair sample is easily collected, stored and readily analyzed. As (arsenic), Cd (cadmium), Hg (mercury), Ni (nickel) and Pb (lead) poses a potential threat to humans. The aim of the study is to link the concentrations of heavy metals in children’s scalp hair with the environmental pollution by presenting an overview of the measurements that have been done in 12-year-old children’s scalp hair living at the municipalities of Kifisia and Kryoneri, in relation with trace metals concentrations in the river water, air and tree leaves at the north zone of Kifissos River in Athens, Greece.

This study was conducted to investigate the recycling of rural wastes employing vermicomposting technology by Eisenia fetida. Three medium including kitchen waste, rotting foliage and cow dung were performed in 20 treatments. Results showed that in all 20 treatments the quality of produced compost was in the standard range. Due to the high levels of nitrogen in raw material of some treatments, (e.g. treatments that percentage of cow dung and kitchen waste are zero such as M, N, O, Q, R and U) the concentration of N in mature compost was higher than other treatments. The type of raw material in the medium has particular importance on the quality of compost. So that any change in the composition due to changes in the presence or absence of macro and micronutrients can influence the compost production process and reproduction of worm. Therefore, optimization of medium components, as shown in this study is of specific importance that has effect on the vermicomposting at low temperature.

Disinfection by-products (DBPs) can be controlled by using alternative disinfectants to chlorine, removing DBPs precursors prior to chlorination and removing DBPs after formed. Chloramine is widely used as an alternative disinfectant to chlorine usage. In this study to evaluate trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) formation and speciation for Altinapa and Omerli dam water isolates after chlorination and choramination procedures at different pH values was aimed. Compared with chlorination, the formation of THMs was reduced by approximately 4-fold in chloramination for Omerli dam water. Total THM concentrations remained below detection limits in Altinapa isolate after chloramination. The dominant species were CF and followed by BDCM and CDBM in case of chlorination, and almost no BF formed. BF is the dominant specie together with CF in case of chloramination, and no BDCM and CDBM formed at all pHs for Omerli dam water. HAA concentrations resulting from the use of chlorine were obtained 4.8-5.1 times higher from resulting from the use of chloramines at different pH values for Omerli Dam water; but this value was 5.5-8.7 for Altinapa Dam water. MCAA, DCAA and BCAA concentrations were a large part of the total HAA concentrations which obtained from chloramines usage for both isolates.

The problem of reducing CO2 emissions from transport, a major contributor to the greenhouse effect, has become a growing concern for the scientific community and various international committees monitoring climate change. Energy savings in the transport sector are a key factor towards rational management of oil reserves, while new trends in the automotive market have already been established, supported by research on efficient and environmentally-friendly technologies and alternative fuels to face fossil fuel dependency. The road transport sector is an important part for most developed economies but also a major source of pollutant emissions. In this framework, this paper focuses on transport emissions along the main road axis in Greece, connecting the country’s two largest urban areas, during the years 2008-2014, a period of prolonged recession. Based on traffic data collected at the toll stations along the highway, greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions were calculated using the COPERT4 emission estimation tool. According to the results, a sharp fall in emissions is observed largely due to traffic volume reductions, but also due to a prevailing trend for larger displacement vehicles and technologically improved vehicles with better environmental standards.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of solar Photo-Fenton’s technique (H2O2/Fe2+/Solar) to treat the refinery wastewater. The experimental data were analyzed using the first and second-order kinetic models. The results clearly indicated that the pseudo-second-order models gave better prediction than the pseudo-first-order models for IC and COD removals, as indicated by the higher regression coefficients (R2). The degradation rate by this treatment could be expressed as a pseudo-second-order reaction with respect to IC and COD removals. The best operating conditions, as elucidated by kapp values, were pH (2), Fe+2 (0.08 g/L), H2O2 (1 g/L), H2O2/Fe2+ ratio (12.5), and reaction time (300 minutes). The solar Photo-Fenton reaction was very fast and reached a maximum IC and COD removals to 62% and 84%, respectively. This study demonstrated that solar Photo-Fenton oxidation process could be used effectively as a post-treatment to enhance the treatment efficiency of petroleum wastewater.

The importance of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) – a metabolic pathway that can generate dinitrogen – remains poorly understood in freshwater river system. Using the 15N-isotope pairing technique (15N IPT) combined with membrane inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS), the potential rates of denitrification, anammox and total N removal, and their respective contributions to total N2 production were evaluated in 11 rivers in the Taihu Lake region of China. The measured potential rates of denitrification, total N removal and anammox varied from 18.9±0.3 to 70.0±11.4, 26.3±0.4 to 71.3±11.1 and 1.3±0.3 to 11.0±2.5 μmol N m-2 h-1, respectively. The relative contribution of anammox to total N2 production (ra%) ranged from 2.0±0.8% to 29.9±0.7%. The mean potential denitrification and the total N removal rates varied spatially in these 11 rivers, with the highest rates occurring in the western rivers of the region, while the mean potential anammox rates and ra% displayed the opposite trend with the highest values occurring in the southern rivers of the region. The contents of nitrate and dissolved organic carbon in sediments appeared to be the primary controlling factors for denitrification and anammox in these studied rivers. Our results indicated that the potential rates of N removal varied spatially, and denitrification is the dominant activity for removing fixed N but the role of anammox is not negligible in freshwater rivers.